And the rain falls...
by Lockheart
Summary: Lily Potter...


This is my first Harry Potter fic, and I have no idea how to really go about doing a HP fanfic, so bear with me if this sucks. This is a first-person narrative from Lily Potter's perspective. R/R, okay? Pretty please with hot fudge and chopped nuts and a nice maraschino cherry on top?  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned 'em, I wouldn't be suffering the injustices of the education system right now.  
  
It's dark outside. The stirrings of a storm are swirling around in the sky, enveloping the moon. The land usually that seems homey and welcoming in the day seems ominous and dark now. The branch of each tree casts vaguely visible shadows over the earth, and in all its virtual invisibility it somehow manages to seem threatening.  
  
Something in my heart feels unsettled, and I almost smirk. How long has it been since I have felt relaxed? Not since the Dark Lord has risen. Not since we, a minority, have been waging what seems like a hopeless and neverending war against Voldemort. Not since we've plunged ourselves in danger. And yet, at the same time, I feel stronger now than I ever have before. Something inside of me is telling me that this is right, and no matter how lame it sounds, I agree with it wholeheartedly.  
  
I used to be the weak one at home. Shy little Lily, not outgoing, not cheerful, not playful. I was the sweet young kid going around with a pensive look on her face and an emptiness in her soul. And yet, despite that, I was the eight-year-old girl that nine-year-old boys had crushes on. I was the quiet student teachers were fond of.  
  
Petunia never liked me. When she met me in school she would simply brush past me with a disgusted look. I used to wall myself up in my room and cry, cry for the young girl who so desperately wanted approval, cry for the girl who could feel something missing in her life, cry for the longing of something so close I could taste it - but I didn't even know what it was.  
  
And then that letter from Hogwarts arrived.  
  
It was at that very moment, when I saw the seal at the back of the envelope, that everything clicked. And I knew instantly that I *had* to do this. I had to go to Hogwarts. For the first time in a long, long time, I smiled.  
  
Petunia hated me more than ever after that, I know, but I stopped caring. I had Hogwarts and witchcraft and a whole new world of magic that dulled everyday life as a Muggle, and that was all that mattered. I had loads of friends and some enemies, and for what seemed like the first time in my entire life, I lived.  
  
Life went on like that for seven years. Seven wonderful, magical years. I met James in those years - James and Sirius and Remus and Peter. I remember, in my fourth year, I had this awful crush on Sirius. James knew, of course - he always had a way of guessing my heart - and we spent ages talking about it. We would sit by the blazing fire in the commonroom long after everyone had gone to bed, talking about Sirius, Severus, our other friends... everything and anything. Soon, we grew closer. We went around together - all five of us. We sat together, ate together, talked together. It was magic - a kind of magic I could never learn. And, as time went on, I fell in love with James.  
  
And on that one magical night, he proposed.  
  
Three months. Those first three months of marriage were bliss. And three months after our wedding, Albus Dumbledore turned up at our doorstep.  
  
James is an orphan, and Professor Dumbledore was always like a father figure to him. He hugged us at our graduation, sent us Christmas cards and presents and toasted us at our wedding. It started out as a routine visit, the visits we'd had the pleasure of receiving many times. But I felt a tug at my heart just before he knocked, and ten minutes later he was telling us about Lord Voldemort, and inviting us to join the force of witches and wizards he had brought together to battle against the Dark Lord.  
  
We accepted, of course. How could we not?  
  
But I was already two months pregnant with Harry, and James instructed me to stay out of the way. And the war began.  
  
Gods... I felt so useless, so helpless, the nights James staggered in, barely able to walk anymore, and the periods of time he hustled me along to Hogwarts and had me stay there. My husband was out there, fighting against the Dark Lord, and I was sitting at home, unable to do anything.  
  
---  
Now Harry's sleeping in my arms, snoring softly. I feel a familiar tug at my heart, similar to the one I felt two years ago. And I know - I just know, that tonight, something bad will happen. The door flies open, and a figure dressed in stark black robes steps in, a cruel smile twisting the edges of his lips.  
  
Peter... he betrayed us?  
  
I hear James shouting something, but I'm not sure what it is now. I'm not sure of anything. I grab Harry instinctively, and I hear a scream as James falls to the ground. It is a while before I realize that it's my own voice screaming.  
  
I hold Harry to my chest protectively. No... Gods, no... please, don't hurt Harry... He's just a baby, for heaven's sake! Why?  
  
And I hear two words, uttered with terrifying coldness, and time seems to slow down. The world is fading to black now...   
  
Don't hurt Harry, please...   
  
...please...  
  
...plea-  
  
...  
  
  
*****  
  
And outside, the rain began to fall.  
  
--end--  
  
  
So! If you hated it, tell me. If you actually liked it, tell me!  
Thank you. I have to go back to my ward and put my straightjacket back on now.  



End file.
